Are you using social media to ask customers what they want? Pizza Hut in Southern California is.  They used a Facebook Question on their Page to engage fans with a simple question: “How many slices of our tasty Super Supreme can you eat in one sitting?” Sounds like a harmless enough question, right?

What fans saw, reports Jon Barilone on Social Media Today, was a list of answer choices that began with:

“As many as I can afford you f[—]ing over priced [—]holes.”

This is a nice corporate blog, so we’ve dashed out the language—but you get the idea.

So how did that happen? Under Facebook Question options there is a checkbox that reads “Allow anyone to add options.” When checked, Jon writes, any Facebook user with something snarky to say can immediately add their own answer choices without admin approval. The expletive-laden option was live for at least 3 hours before it was deleted.

Here are 2 steps to avoid making the same kind of social media mistake:

1. Know your features. Social networks roll out features on a regular basis, so it’s important you give any new tool a good once-over. And anytime you’re publishing on a social network, always double check to make sure you’ve chosen the correct options.
2. Use online listening to monitor. Social media monitoring will alert you to the mistakes that could damage brand online reputation. But beware—social media doesn’t clock out at 5 p.m. or take off Labor Day. Brands need to monitor frequently to keep public relations crises from spinning out of control.

Need guidance with all this social media stuff? Then it’s time to work with the experts who live and breathe social media. Contact the Social Strategy1 team for a free online assessment.